Englewood, CO – On June 6, jetCenters of Colorado held a fundraiser at Centennial Airport, one of their three aviation operations along the Front Range. jetCenters, which provides aeronautical services such as fueling and aircraft rental and maintenance, holds a sublease with Key Lime Air, an airline that, according to government data and flight trackers, runs detainee flights for ICE.

The Aurora Unidos CSO (AUCSO), which helped organize the week of action, views the airline as “profiting off of human suffering.”

The jetCenters fundraiser had hundreds of attendees and even had the Denver Broncos mascot make an appearance. Other sponsors of the fundraiser included Modern Aviation, Boom Supersonic and Signature Aviation.

Organizers and activists from AUCSO, Bread and Roses Legal Center, Denver People’s March, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Immigrant Partnership Team (IPT), and Jewish Voice for Peace partnered together for a demonstration in resistance to the continued collaboration between jetCenters and Key Lime Air. The action comes as the conclusion to a week of action against deportation flights in Colorado. Protesters’ speeches condemned jetCenters, Key Lime Air and the deportation flights.

“Key Lime Air CEO Cliff Honeycutt has repeatedly ignored calls to even acknowledge his company’s profiting from human suffering, trying to hide behind a thin shield of respectability and trying to dismiss any outcry to his profiting off of cruelty as simply ‘politics,’” said Jordyn Merritt from IPT, “But it is not just a political statement to say that Key Lime Air makes money off of acts of cruelty; it is a fact, corroborated by human rights organizations and flight trackers across the nation.”

According to Katherine Draken of FRSO, who shared public data with the crowd, “Key Lime Air is confirmed under contract with CSI Aviation, one of the largest federal contractors for ICE flights. They have a $563 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security, and Key Lime Air is responsible for up to 11% of ICE’s deportation [flights].” Draken urged the audience to stand in solidarity with immigrants in the wake of the recent victory in Connecticut against Avelo Airlines’ $150 million contract with ICE.

Yoselin Corrales of AUCSO reminded the crowd of the inappropriate use of funds and how this movement is for all people, stating, “Our tax dollars could be funding education, housing, food accessibility, healthcare, and yet we are seeing it used to perpetuate the suffering of the community that we grew up in, were raised in, and are a part of. We see our family, our neighbors, and our friends being terrorized on a regular basis and we say no more!”

Two days after the protest, Denver City Council voted to pass an ordinance that could potentially be used to kick air carriers that operate deportation flights out of Denver International Airport. While AUCSO considers the ordinance to be a minor victory, they also say that the fight is far from over, and they urge the community to get involved in any way they can.

#EngelwoodCO #CO #ImmigrantRights #KeyLimeAir #Deportations #ICE #AuroraCO #AUCSO

Englewood, CO – On April 1, teachers and faculty across five schools of the Sheridan School District went on strike demanding union recognition and the reinstatement of their contract. Over 100 teachers, faculty and community members walked the picket lines demanding that the school district come back to the table for negotiations.

Tensions rose earlier this year when the school district passed a policy that stated they would not recognize staff without licenses in the union. That means school custodians, paraprofessionals on staff, bus drivers – workers who all keep the district’s schools running and operational – were not able to join. When contract negotiations fell apart, 98% of members voted to strike. While the Sheridan School District initially claimed that schools would stay open while the strike was ongoing, the school district was forced to cancel classes through the end of the week due to low staffing.

Kate Biester, president of the Sheridan Educators Association, reflecting on the start of the strike, said, “When we lost our contract for the teachers, it also lost what the district was giving in good faith to the rest of their workers – and we decided that wasn't good enough anymore. And we need to fully enfranchise all of the workers in our school district and give them all bargaining rights.”

According to the union, students and the local community have been very important every step of the way. Earlier this year, high school students in Sheridan School District walked out in support of the teachers, and elementary school students helped chant alongside their teachers.

“There's always been kind of like an undercurrent of community members, parents, students, really trying to make significant change in this community,” Biester said, ”And I feel like right now it's just all coming to a head, all the work we've done in different spaces over the last few years is showing up all at once.”

On day two of the strike, organizers hosted a car rally, driving by the district’s administration building with a truck from members of Teamsters Local 455 leading the way in solidarity.

Members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) showed up in solidarity as well, decorating cars for the car rally. Circe Conway, an FRSO general member and former Starbucks Workers United organizer pointed out, “The more people that join the union, the more people that are eligible for and benefit from the union, the more powerful it’s going to get, and that builds a lot of worker power.”

After the car rally, workers went back to their strike shifts one more time before closing the day out in high spirits.

#EngelwoodCO #CO #Labor #Sheridan #Educators #Strike #Featured